Mammoth Month of Moviepass #7: 48 HOURS

Mammoth Month of Moviepass #7

This was one of those tines where the same things that make the movie dated in its attitudes towards race and sex are... Actually what I like about it, in some part. Walter Hill doesn't put on any kind of act as a tough-guy filmmaker, he just is, it's what Id imagine his personality is. 

But notice the give and take between Nolte and Murphy; these guys are constantly shit-talking one another as defense mechanisms to, you know, actually connect with one another (which they do after duking it out with their fists among other exchanges). I think Hill just skirts the line- it's about an asshole cop and this piece of work smartass convict, but the movie isnt an asshole, if that makes sense. It also kicks a lot of ass as an action movie, and James Horner's score adds a lot.

Even if Eddie Murphy had never been in a single skit on SNL, he would become a star just from the cowboy bar alone.

PS: this was also one of those times where the rough nature of a film print didnt take away but made a moviegoing experience a unique sort of delight; the print (the only one apparently available, anywhere) was beaten up and wad from like a Mexicsn grindhouse circa early/mid 80s... But you know what? Because it's Hill and it's this stew of tough guy, street level action and comedy and suspense, it worked.